People who make flavoured gins etc I need you!!

[Makemineacabsauv]

Pretty skint this year and I'd like to make some flavoured gin or things like that to give as gifts. I am hopeless at making things so thought this would be a simple but easy thing to make that people will like! Any recipes will be gratefully received!

I just put the fruit in a big sterilised kilner jar, add the alcohol and some sugar. Some people add sugar at the end. I've never really followed any specific measurements, just winged it. Sorry can't be more specific!

I've made spiced blackberry whisky, blackberry gin, raspberry vodka, cherry brandy, plum gin, sloe gin and plum brandy. Bloody lovely!

Oooh, yes! Great idea! Sloes are out in the hedgerows now (I've spent the weekend picking them!) so if you live somewhere with countryside nearby they're a good choice. Also blackberries - blackberry gin is gorgeous.
Or you could make limoncello (vodka, sugar, lemon zest) or perhaps a flavoured brandy? There are loads of recipes online and some fabulous ideas for other gifts. Today I've made lots of jars of mincemeat (the mince pie kind) that I will dress up with pretty labels and fabric lid covers and give as gifts. I've been doing this for the past few years and they have always been really well received, I think people really appreciate a gift that you've taken time and trouble to make.

Vanilla vodka is easy and tastes good. My Mum makes sloe gin but sloes are a faff to collect.

Raspberry gin would be pretty safe bet with most people. You may have missed the blackberries this year, you could try sloes?

However you would have to buy gin and also the bottles to present it in - 250ml Kilner bottles are still £3 in Wilko so all adds up

Obvs I understand it will make a much more thoughtful present ultimately

Anyway - raspberry/blackberry/sloe gin
75cl gin
250-300g rasps & 45/50g sugar
Or
300-400g blackberries & 200g sugar
Or
400-500g sloes & 500g sugar

Clean 1l jar - put everything in and shake, leave in cool place, shake every day or 2. After 2 weeks, strain (keep the raspberries/ blackberries as they are yum) taste and add more sugar if you think it needs it then bottle

Ooh they all sound lovely! Do do I just bung it all in and leave it then drain the fruit out and stick it in a nice bottle?? Even I could do that!! Dd is a great wee baker and made her own Xmas cake and mincemeat last year that everyone loved so may just do them up as parcels too. She loves a good session filling skillet jar with mincemeat etc so will probably love the fruity spirit making too!
I do live in the country but will have to google what sloes look like as I haven't a clue!!
Thank you!

I've made cherry vodka in the past, used frozen cherries to save having to remove the stones in fresh ones. Spiced vodka is good.

Although I would say sometimes you end up spending more money than you would on presents as the cost of the alcohol, even if you use the cheap stuff, adds up!

A near neighbour does damson gin.

I don't understand how this is a cheap gift, though. Surely buying bottles and gin makes it more expensive than just buying spirits off the shelf

I bought some nice Kilner-style bottles for juniper-infused elderflower (aka alcohol-free gin) and they were a couple of pounds each.

Dishwasher sweets vodka!
Get a bottle of cheap supermarket vodka and take about a quarter of it out.
Put sweets of your choice in, put the lid on and then put the bottle into the dishwasher and run it on a regular cycle

Sweets that work well - Werther's Originals or other toffees; Foxes Glacier mints; rubharb and custards; cherry drops; sherbet lemons; parma violets
Avoid multicoloured things like jelly babies or skittles because it makes the vodka go a sludge brown colour

Then pour into pretty bottles and put a nice ribbon and label on

Gin would be harder to do without a bit of precision because it already has a delicate flavour
You could experiment with herbs like lavender, rosemary and thyme (not together!) but the end result would be dependent on personal taste so might not work as well as universal presents
Sloe gin is obviously a classic, and it is about to be peak sloe season
Or Damsons/plums if you don't have access to sloes

sparechange what's the logic behind the dishwasher? Is it the heat bringing out the flavour?

Sloes are free (obviously!) and sloe gin is a classic. I wonder if you could use frozen fruit to bring the cost down?

When you strain the drink, put it through muslin a few times to get all the bits out. If you're using sloes, pick them after the first frost and bung them in the freezer overnight before you use them, to break the skins. Oh, and try not to drink it all yourself 😉

green
It's like a bain marie
Melts the sweets and infuses the vodka, and with minimal mess and effort

Yeah I'm now just wondering seeing about it bro g a cheaper option!! Need to look into it in more detail but it does sound lovely!

I use frozen raspberries. Similar recipe as above, but I use more sugar. I suspect that's because I plagarised a blackberry recipe to start.

It's worth using a bottle that doesn't have a narrow neck, or it's a bugger to get the fruit out again.

I don't strain it. I just agitate it every week or so, then decant it.

I bought kilner jars in bulk from Amazon.

I had plans of giving people a 750ml bottle of flavoured gin, but once I'd factored in the cost of the gin that fell apart, and I used 500 ml and 250 ml bottles.

You could put it in a gift bag with homemade chocolate cinder toffee or truffles if you go for a smaller size kilner jar and want to bulk it out.

It's worth buying a plastic funnel. They're cheap, and it avoids losing gin as you decant.

you can be lucky in Poundland or Home Bargains for kilner jars/bottles sometimes.

Things like sweets/cake/cookies are cheaper to make and look very festive made up in a hamper (use a shoebox and wrapping paper; buy cellophane bags and rolls off eBay). Probably most worthwhile if you have a few to do, eg nursery, Rainbows, babysitter, sister-in-law.

My favourites for this idea, and I've had requests for repeats, are:

Florentines
Tablet
Peanut butter cookies
Striped "kiss" meringues
Chocolate brownie
Peppermint creams
Nutella fudge

Do a decent batch of each, then split into lots of little packets and each hamper gets one of each. If they don't like one thing, chances are they like something else.

IKEA have got cheap bottles & jars- I bought some 500ml bottles in there for i think £1 each- or maybe that was the jars
Was only last week but i can't quite recall anyway they were cheaper than most I've seen!

Also Sainsbury's had half price Kilner jars in store but mine had sold out of the bigger ones I wanted

Lots of ideas here

Sloe gin is easy to make but not cheap- even cheap gin is £15 a litre and you need bottles to put it in. It is a lovely thing to do.

I make sugar syrup with sugar and water and you can add about a litre to 3 litres of gin if you make it early enough. I pick my sloes when I walk the dog and freeze them until I have enough.

I would go for fairly small bottles as it soon goes.

It's not to late for blackberries around here and jam is cheaper to make than gin. A hamper (a gift bag rather than basket- cheaper) with a small bottle of gin, a homemade jam &/or chutney and some fudge would be a very appreciated and generous gift I think. Or a small Christmas cake or biscuits. So much you can do.

I have to say it's not the cheapest option for presents, but then it depends how much you make. I must have spent at least £50 on booze last year for the fruit! Then you have to buy the bottles too. I found some nice ones on eBay.

Oh and definitely keep the fruit of eat afterwards. Really tasty with vanilla ice cream!

I usually make truffles and peppermint creams too. They are really cheap to make.

We got some large glass bottles from IKEA, sterilised them, added a full bottle of Aldi gin, 200g sugar and 600g plums with their skins pricked with a fork. Sealed the bottle and gave it a good shake. Continued to shake twice a day for three days and then just left in a dark cupboard. What it will taste like I have no idea but we'll find out at Christmas!

Rhubarb gin is my favourite. Gin in big Kilner jar. Shove in the pink bits of the rhubarb, few tablespoon of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. Leave in the dark for approx 10 days giving it a shake every so often. Strain out and bottle. Delish. Goes a gorgeous pale pink.

Today my neighbour gave me a load of cherries from her tree. I used a BBC food recipe.

400gms of cherries
200gms of sugar
150 mls water
70cl vodka

Slice a nick in the cherries then add water and sugar and heat till the sugar dissolves and looks juicy. Transfer cooled mixture to a jar then poor vodka on top. Secure and leave for 8 weeks.

I've usually make blackberry whiskey, spiced vodka and cranberry gin for friends and family and do agree it's not cheap. I also give homemade food gifts. I've a collection of kilner jars and decorative tins for food built up and say to whoever I give the gifts to that if they return the bottles/jars/tins they'll get a refill next Christmas. Works fine. My aunt will often turn up at random times if the year with an empty bottle or I've received tins back in early December when a friend has taken their decorations from the attic and found a cookie tin mixed in amongst the decorations. I usually now ask which drinks they want.
Pots of Nigella's chilli jam always go down well too and small jars go a long way.

[[http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmas_pudding_vodka_45343
Christmas Pudding Vodka or Brandy]] is nice. You can use the fruit filtered out of it in a boozy cake so you kill two birds with one stone

I'm making raspberry gin, rhubarb vodka and for the first time liquorice vodka - been steeping 3 weeks and smells amazing :-)